Vol. 4 - No. 42
In This Week’s Edition
THE SOUTHERN OCEAN
TIMES
MICROMEDIAPUBS.COM
Your FREE Weekly Hometown Newspaper For Lacey, Waretown, Barnegat, Manahawkin, LBI, Tuckerton and Little Egg
Police Explorers At Work In Lacey Gille Park Skate Nights Return
| April 15, 2017
Barnegat Approves $25M Budget
Page 5.
Community News! Don’t miss what’s happening in your town. Pages 8-11.
Letters To The Editor Page 6.
From Your Government Officials Page 7.
Doctor Izzy “Do You Get What You Pay For?”
Page 14.
Dear Pharmacist Page 15.
Inside The Law “Protect Yourself And Your Family By Choosing The Right Automobile Insurance”
Page 17.
Classified Ads Page 19.
Wolfgang Puck Page 23.
By Chris Lundy LACEY – You might be seeing some new unifor ms at special e ve n t s t h r o u g h o u t town in the coming years. The Police Explorers will be on hand at parades and other
town functions. The Explorer program trains teens and young adults who are i nterested i n a law enforcement career. Run through the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department, they offer
–Photos courtesy Lacey police (Above) Lacey Township Police Chief Michael DiBella addresses public about the Police Explorers at the Township Committee meeting. Photo courtesy Lacey police. (Left) Sheriff’s Officer Christine Farrell introduces the Police Explorers at the Township Committee meeting on March 24. t he g rou ndwork of 14 are Lacey residents, what it is like to serve Police Chief Michael the community as a DiBella said. police officer. T h e d u t ie s t h e y The 14 members of will perform are not post No. 1 were recently dangerous, he said. introduced to the Lacey Throughout the year, Committee during a they will be used as meeting. Twelve of the (Explorers - See Page 4)
–Photo by Chris Lundy At its recent committee meeting, officials approved the Barnegat Township budget and tax increase. By Chris Lundy BARNEGAT – The Township Committee approved a $25 million budget at its April 4 meeting, which carried with it a tax increase of about $1.3 million. The total budget for 2017 will be $25,396,372.81, said chief fi nancial officer Tom Lombarski. It would be an increase of $1,250,291 over last year’s $24,146,081 budget. The budget includes a municipal levy of $20,763,198, an increase of $1,313,203 from last year’s $19,449,995. The municipal tax rate will be 90.1 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, an increase from last year’s 85.4 cents. A homeowner living in a home assessed at the township average of $238,002 would have a municipal tax payment of $2,144, an increase of $112 from $2,032.
Towns Create Safe Zones For Internet Purchases
By Chris Lundy OCEAN COUNTY – Stafford and Lacey townships have created internet safe zones for their residents to trade purchases made online with strangers. With people doing more and more of their shopping online, it was important for them to have a safe place to drop off products and make trades, officials said. With sites such as Craigslist, there
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are a lot of good transactions going on every day, but people never know who they are dealing with. Stafford Councilman Alan Smith announced at the March 28 Township Council meeting that two parking spaces by the municipal building at 260 East Bay Avenue will be set aside for these transactions. “The entire (Safe Zones - See Page 12)
–Photo by Chris Lundy Stafford Police created a “safe zone” where folks buying from others online can transact in safety. Lacey and South Toms River have ones too.
With the SOUTHERN OCEAN TIMES
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(Budget - See Page 5)
Primary Candidates File For Local Races SEE PAGE 4
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